Sarkozy Bakery workers share what they love about bread

D&W Fresh Market restocked the shelves with Sarkozy bread that has a fresh date ending on the weekend. Customers made large purchases after hearing the news of the fire in 2012.Mark Bugnaski | MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette

KALAMAZOO, MI – Judy Sarkozy recalls how happy a perfect loaf of pumpernickel bread made her one night.

Sarkozy – who plans to share ownership of her 35-year-old business, Sarkozy Bakery, with her fellow bakers when it reopens later this year – says she immediately called her sister.

“She said, ‘Judy it’s 2 a.m. and I don’t care,'” Sarkozy, 71, said with a burst of laughter. “It is so beautiful when you see a rack of bread that just came out of the oven or when the crunch is right or when you can hear it talk to you when it comes out of the oven.”

Courtney Davis, 26: "I think bread brings people together; it brought us together in a unique way. The first time I walked into the bakery was to buy bread. Everyone was having such a fun time. They were packaging bread, and it was such a great place to be. I love bringing bread to family events."

Favorite: “The other white bread is the best for toast but I love rye.”

Nate Haroldson, 33: “I ate a whole loaf of bread everyday my first few days. Bread hits so many emotions on so many days. You can’t force it and make it be bread, you have to nurture it. The bread needs you and you knead the bread. It’s so complex, you get the same four ingredients but you get completely different products.”

Favorite: “Our sourdough. The way the wild yeast, which are native to Kalamazoo, works is unlike any sourdough I’ve ever had. “

Chris VanDenBerg, 28: “It’s amazing you can take water, flour and salt and capture the yeast in the air. I was intimidated by my lack of experience when I started mixing the bread, something clicked.”

Favorite: Sourdough

Mike Root, 36: “I like the same thing I like about bread that I do about chocolate. It seems simple, but it can be frustrating and when you get it right you feel like you did it and then other people can eat it and they get a feel for all you put into it. They are tasting all of this stuff: Thought, work, art, that you put into it.

Favorite: “It depends on what I’m eating."

Judy Sarkozy, 71: “I haven’t gotten over that thrill of realizing what it needs. At 15 years, I realized that I know some stuff about this. I know how to do this. I was really thrilled."

Favorite: “French bread because it took me years and the French bread taught me how to make it.”